There are benefits annually for gathering your Sunday School planning team together to evaluate your Sunday School organization and progress. I highly recommend a Sunday School retreat (usually close to the beginning of a new Sunday School year). Doing so helps your team to…
- look to God for His leadership,
- celebrate effectiveness and successes,
- identify unmet goals and areas needing adjustment or improvement,
- identify and focus on needs and priorities, and
- set goals and make plans to accomplish those priorities.
Gathering monthly to check on goals, plans, and progress following the retreat usually helps a Sunday School avoid getting stuck. What are some signs your Sunday School may be stuck? Consider the following organizational signs:
- enrollment has plateaued or declined,
- attendance has plateaued or declined,
- enrollment has declined despite a slight attendance increase,
- attendance has declined despite a slight enrollment increase,
- fewer classes,
- fewer teachers,
- fewer workers assisting teacher,
- class fellowships and projects are becoming irregular or rare,
- lack of prayer for Sunday School and lost/unenrolled people,
- missing or neglected prospect lists,
- missing or inactive outreach leaders,
- no or few caring contacts or invitations,
- lack of planning together, and
- no Sunday School training.
When Sunday School is stuck, there are often other reasons beyond the organizational signs. There can be attitudinal reasons as well. Consider the following:
- leaders and/or people are too busy,
- leaders and/or people don’t care,
- conflict is present,
- Sunday School is not important (or other things are more important than Sunday School),
- leaders are not leading,
- leaders are trying to do the work in their own strength (without God),
- leaders and/or people are not working together, and
- the pastor is not a champion of Sunday School.
Are you seeing some (or too many) of these signs in your Sunday School? If so, look for my next blog post, Getting Sunday School Unstuck.
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